


Mistakes

by SWGoji2001



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Genophage, Mass Effect 3, Tuchanka (Mass Effect), do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23729311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SWGoji2001/pseuds/SWGoji2001
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone can walk away from their mistakes. Standing at the base of the Shroud, Commander Shepard must choose the fate of an entire species and whether the mission is worth the cost.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Massive spoilers for Mass Effect 3. Only read if you’ve played the games or just don’t care about spoilers at all.

_If Tuchanka has a temper, Kalros is it._

The words of Urdnot Wrex sounded off in Kaitlyn Shepard's head, nearly drowned out by the noise of the Reaper guarding the Shroud. The second Maw Hammer thundered. This plan of Eve's better work, because if Kalros didn't show… Shepard doubted she would escape the arena alive.

The ground rumbled, not from the thundering footsteps of the Reaper that had nearly crushed her multiple times, but from something else moving swiftly below ground. Shepard heard a wail and she saw it! A massive thresher maw porpoising across the ground towards the Shroud.

The Reaper noticed it as well, shifting to engage this new, unexpected threat. It fired once, its deadly laser targeting Kalros.

In a spray of sand and stone, Kalros shot up from the ground to attack the Reaper, Shepard merely trying to both escape the struggle alive and make it to the Shroud.

The Reaper swung around, Kalros still clinging to it. It threw the Maw into the Shroud. Shepard's breath caught. If the Shroud was destroyed, all hope was lost for both Palaven and Earth. The humans needed the turians, and the turians needed the krogan. The krogan would only help the turians if Wrex got what he wanted: a cure for the genophage. The Shroud was the only way to disperse the cure to all krogan on Tuchanka, but if it was gone…

Somehow the Shroud stayed up. Kalros disappeared below ground as the Reaper fired again, missing by a hair.

The Reaper maneuvered slightly, perhaps tracking Kalros below the Tuchanka desert. Shepard realized her guess was right as Kalros leapt up from the ground behind the Reaper, driving it into the ground. Kalros coiled itself around the felled Reaper, which fired its laser desperately into the air. But it was of no use.

As Shepard watched, both Maw and Reaper disappeared below ground in a cloud of dust. She stood there for a moment, staring in awe, before she turned on her heel to run into the Shroud.

* * *

Mordin was there when she arrived, typing furiously at a console. She ran over to him. "Mordin! Is the cure ready?"

Mordin spoke fast, in his usual way, continuing to type away at the terminal. "Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve, but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable."

The cure. The focus of this entire mission was on that. And Shepard knew it was doomed to fail. The Salarian STG had sabotaged the Shroud to prevent such a thing from happening. The Dalatrass had cut Shepard a deal: sabotage the genophage and receive the salarians' top scientists for the Crucible.

Shepard hadn't told anyone about it. And she was considering taking the deal. Wrex would be furious if he found out. He'd probably track her down and kill her. Was it worth it?

"She's okay?"

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for krogan."

Part of the Shroud tore itself lose, crashing down next to them. Shepard flinched slightly. "Damn!"

Mordin gestured towards the base of the tower. "Control room located at top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up."

Shepard froze. The thing was on the verge of collapse. If Mordin went up, he wouldn't be coming back down. But more importantly… did he know? "You're going up there?"

Mordin turned to face Shepard, opening his omnitool. "Yes. Readings at lab suggest temperature malfunction. Could affect cure viability. Need to adjust settings manually."

Mordin knew something was wrong. If he went up there, she was sure he'd find the sabotage and fix it. Now… Shepard had to choose. She held the fate of the krogan in one hand; the help of the salarians in the other.

Shepard knew Wrex. He was honorable and cared for his people. Wrex believed it was time for the krogan to change. He knew that vengeance for the genophage was not in their future. Eve did as well.

But could two krogan hold the reins of the entire species? Could they prevent a repeat of the Krogan Rebellions? Wreav was dead, but there were plenty other krogan like him who seemed hell-bent on crushing those responsible for the genophage. The krogan of the past had made mistakes that the krogan of the present were still paying for in the form of living with the genophage, but many krogan didn't see those choices as mistakes.

Plus the salarians were the most scientifically minded species in the galaxy. The Dalatrass had promised the full support of their scientists if Shepard would only destroy the cure. If anyone could build the Crucible, it would be the salarians. The Crucible itself was the key to defeating the Reapers. They had no clue what it could do, but it was their best hope.

The Crucible was all that mattered.

There was no time to think… only time to hope she chose correctly.

Shepard made her choice. History would be her judge.

"It's too dangerous, Mordin! We need to get out of here."

Mordin turned his back to her, looking up at the control room no doubt. "No. Temperature variance could destroy cure. Time running out. Have to go up."

Shepard looked down. "Mordin, you're not going up."

"Not concerned for my safety. Concerned I might discover something. Sabotage? But whose? Ahh…" Mordin said as he undoubtedly pieced it together. He turned his head, looking at her over his shoulder. "Why Shepard? That desperate for salarian aid? Or that afraid of krogan?"

He walked away from her towards the elevator. Shepard followed, hoping she could talk him down. She had made her decision, it was time to live with it. "Every time we've talked about this before you've defended the genophage! Hell, I had to talk you into saving Maelon's data! How can you change your mind now?"

"I MADE A MISTAKE!" Mordin turned and yelled, shocking Shepard into stopping where she stood. "I made a mistake… focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables. Can't hide behind statistics. Can't ignore new data. My responsibility. Need to go. Running out of time."

They were both committed now. Mordin would save the cure or die trying. Shepard pulled out her pistol, the Carnifex hand cannon that she had used during her mission to take down the Collectors. Her voice nearly quavered as she pointed it at him. "Mordin, walk away."

Mordin looked down. "Can't do that, Shepard."

"I don't have a choice here," Shepard said, arm trembling. "Walk away or I will fire."

Mordin took a step forward, leaning towards Shepard. "Not your decision. Not your work. Not your cure. Had to be me." He paused for a second. "Someone else might have gotten it wrong." He stepped back. "No time to argue. Cure dispersal imminent. Must counteract sabotage. Stop me if you must."

And with that, Mordin turned his back to her. He walked towards the elevator as if he was walking to the tech lab on the Normandy. He didn't care that she had a gun trained on his back. He believed so strongly that the krogan deserved this cure, that the salarians and the turians had been wrong to neuter the krogan, that he would die for it.

Time seemed to slow as he walked away. Shepard was paralyzed, could she really gun down Mordin? She wished she was still a regular soldier, a grunt whose only job was to kill the enemy. A soldier who didn't have to make decisions that would shape the face of the entire galaxy.

Mordin reached the elevator, and Shepard lowered the gun with a sad sigh. They locked eyes through the glass doors. One pair full of calm determination. The other full of regret and remorse. Mordin nodded once, a slight smile on his scarred face. His eyes held something else now… approval.

The elevator lifted and Shepard was left standing alone at the base of the Shroud. Her shoulders slumped as she looked at the gun in her hand. It was the Carnifex he had given her back on Omega when she had gone to recruit him. _'Bonus weapon in good faith'_ he had called it. She had used it ever since… and had almost shot him with it.

For ages, philosophers had theorized that there was a line some people could not cross. Shepard had yet to find that line. She had nearly killed Wrex and left Ashley to die on Virmire. She had sacrificed the Council to take out Sovereign. She was killed by the Collectors and all it did was piss her off. She had worked with Cerberus to stop the Collectors and let the three hundred thousand inhabitants of the Bahak System die when she destroyed the Alpha Relay to stop the Reapers.

But Shepard couldn't kill Mordin Solus. Shepard had reached the line… and she couldn't cross it.

She had once said she would stop at nothing to get the job done. But as she looked at the Carnifex in her hand, all she saw was the hands of a monster. What had she become?

Mordin was right. It had to be him. Someone else might have gotten it wrong. _Shepard_ had gotten it wrong.

Shepard turned to leave, throwing the Carnifex to the ground in disgust at herself.

Shepard made it to the edge of the arena when she heard it. Turning back to the Shroud, she saw the cure dispersal in progress. Mordin's voice rang out over the com. _"Genophage cured. Krogan free. New beginning… for all of us."_

It was cut off by an explosion, and Shepard watched as the control room disappeared in a ball of fire. Shepard held out her hand as the cure spread across the sky and rained down all over Tuchanka. It fell like snow, and she looked back up at the Shroud. Mordin had once told her that he connected most to the "wheel of life" reincarnation beliefs similar to Hinduism.

_New beginning._ Mordin had his new beginning. He had done many things in his life, killed many people, but he saved a race from extinction. Wherever he was going… it was better than here.

_New beginning… for all of us._ The krogan had their new beginning. They had their future generations to fight for. Mordin had his new beginning. And so did Shepard.

Shepard watched Wrex and Eve get out of the tomkah and stare in wonder and joy at the cure. She had nearly taken this from them. And she had nearly shot a friend in cold blood to accomplish an objective.

Shepard swore she'd never do so again. If she had shot Mordin, she could have shot Kaidan, Liara, EDI, James, Tali… or Garrus. She was turning into a monster… and it had cost Mordin's life for her to realize that.

For the first time in a long time, Shepard cried.


End file.
